This I Believe

At eight years old I harbored a deep hatred for my pet hermit crab. I loathed everything about this crab. The way it crawled, looked with its bright blue shell, smelled, and my job to clean the cage and give it food and water. One day, my family spent a day out in the garden planting tulip bulbs. Tulips bother me because they don’t immediately grow and are not already in bloom when you plant them. Rather, you get to wait through a long winter until spring to finally see the flower. Suddenly, a brilliant thought occurred to me. What if, like the tulip bulbs, I buried my hermit crab and then watched to see if it “sprung up” after the long winter like the tulips. Immediately I took action. While the crab slept in its cage, I told my mom the crab died. Then, I visited the garden and dug a nice hole for my crab and ceremoniously buried the crab alive. I thought my plan worked perfectly, no more stinky crab to take care of. Unfortunately I was wrong. To my great horror and surprise, when the tulips came up so did that crab! Looking a little worn, I found my crab with the bright blue shell half buried under a bush, alive and crawling. I viewed the crab with disgust and donated it to my little brother. That day I learned that I cannot hide or avoid my responsibilities. Eventually, I believe responsibilities return to be attended to.

Later in my life, I tried again to avoid and ignore my responsibilities. For years my family celebrates the tradition of receiving the seasonal flu shot. Traditionally, I do everything in my power to avoid the needle. One year shortly after my 14th birthday, I succeeded in being absent during the family trip to the doctor’s office. My family returned home sore with tacky Band-Aids on their arms. At first, I felt simply delighted with myself. No sore arm, jabbing needle, or itchy band aide. However, as the night progressed I began to feel a little funny and lightheaded. By morning I felt like a zombie. Everything hurt. After my lips turned blue and I started panting my mom took me to the pediatrician who diagnosed me with the flu. Suddenly I found myself in the hospital with an IV in my arm wearing an awkward hospital gown. Now, I look forward to the flu shot with great anticipation and plan the family event.

The fact remains; responsibilities cannot be ignored or in my case buried. They do come back like my crab and tulips in the spring to be dealt with. So, after many attempts at avoidance, I face my responsibilities. I believe in meeting my responsibilities instead of hiding from them. This I believe.

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Top 100 Essays USB Drive

This USB drive contains 100 of the top This I Believe audio broadcasts of the last ten years, plus some favorites from Edward R. Murrow's radio series of the 1950s. It's perfect for personal or classroom use! Click here to learn more.

This week’s essay

Growing up in the former Yugoslavia, lawyer Djenita Pasic enjoyed the peace of her religiously diverse country. But after the fall of communism and the outbreak of the Bosnian War, Pasic was forced to reevaluate her ideas about religion and tolerance. Click here to read her essay.